One of the most anticipated films of the summer will be hitting theaters in nineteen days. That film is Christopher Nolan’s epic final installment in his Batman trilogy: The Dark Knight Rises. Yes, it sounds ominous, yes it will break opening weekend records, yes it is a Best Picture contender. All those yeses and more will be discussed if you do one simple task that will change your life forever: read on.

Christopher Nolan has become a director that will most likely be remembered for the ages. He is known for helming Memento, The Prestige, Inception, and of course The Dark Knight trilogy. The Batman finale will certainly be his most successful and popular film to date. My prediction for it’s opening weekend gross is $217.4 million. Currently Nolan’s most successful (and popular) film is The Dark Knight. The Avengers has now shattered all records by not only earning the highest opening weekend gross, but also being the first film to earn over $200 million on it’s opening weekend. It’s total opening weekend gross was $207.4 million. If my prediction for The Dark Knight Rises is correct, then The Avengers record will be beaten.

Asides from moneymaking, the film has a good chance of being nominated for Best Picture. It’s competition in terms of winning is is Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Lincoln, The Great Gatsby, and more. Arguably the reason the Academy Awards have changed their Best Picture nominations from five to ten is to let more popular films in like The Dark Knight, a film that wasn’t nominated, but according to many, deserved to be nominated. Now that there will be five to ten nominees this year (unless the rules are changed again), The Dark Knight Rises has a very good chance of being nominated.

The movie will certainly be action packed, but according to the trailer the movie will follow in the footsteps of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight: it will be macabre. Yet that won’t stop half of the world from seeing it. After all, it is one of the most anticipated films of the summer.